Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Depending on the outcome of negotiations, many Cortes Island residents could end up paying another $43 for the garbage pick-up that they do not use. The problem is too many of us are taking our recyclables directly to the Cortes Island Waste Management Centre.

According to Wolfang Parada, the SRD’s Senior Manager of Engineering Services, Cortes Island currently receives about $29,000 a year in incentives from Recycle BC. Unfortunately, a large number of Cortes residents do not use the curbside pick-up program. We may have the lowest volume per resident in the province. Consequently, Cortes may lose its cash incentives.

“In order for us to meet the minimal requirements in the agreement that we signed with recycle BC, which is 67 kilograms per household, we will need to actually request the residents of Cortes Island place every single recycling material on the curbside,” explained Parada.

“Basically, what we're suggesting is to promote more education. The problem we don't come up with an agreement with recycle BC, There is a chance that we lose part of the incentives or 100% of the incentives that they're giving us. Right now is $43 per house. We were going to try our best to negotiate these were recycle BC. Hopefully it will be successful and will you be able to reduce the volumes that they're asking us for. If we're not successful, the user rates will probably have to go up.”

The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) has been negotiating with Recycle BC since January, and need to present a draft plan to Recycle BC by Saturday, April 15, 2023.

However Cortes Island Director Mark Vonesch was not informed of this until shortly before the Wednesday April 12 meeting of the Electoral Areas Services Committee.

He wanted to know, “Why we’re getting this now instead of earlier?”

Parada said staff were not able to present this at the last meeting, but he could share the draft plan with Vonesch if he was interested.

The Cortes Island Director is definitely interested and pointed out that part of the problem is soft plastics are not part of the program. Many Cortesians Island are pretty environmentally conscious and want to see their soft plastics recycled. Also glass collection was discontinued in 2020, so residents already take it directly to the depot.

He added they also go to the depot for the Free Store.

“If glass was picked up on curbside, that would certainly have a big impact on the amount that was picked up. That’s one I think thing worth considering. I have spoken with the contractor and there are open to that happening as well. Secondly, you're looking at the option of having garbage picked up every two weeks and having recycling picked up every two weeks. Changing the way that that's done might be another way that increases the recycling risk gets gets picked up,” said Vonesch.

“I really appreciate staff's effort on this and understand this is a challenging thing. It is part of the culture that people do show up at the recycling center. Look forward to seeing the draft report and hope we can resolve this and keep these subsidies going so that a user fees are not increased.”

Photo courtesy The Bag N Box Man LTD

Greg Osoba/ CKTZ News - The Cortes Island Waste Management Centre is preparing for a busy summer and the organization's new manager is worried about capacity.

Waste Management Centre manager Aaron McCulloch-Gary—who has been at the helm since the start of 2023 after taking over from long serving manager Brian Pfiefle—says everything is running smoothly at the moment, but he has serious concerns about the upcoming summer season, when the Cortes Island population triples beyond its 1,000 year-round residents.

He's especially concerned about trucks accessing and leaving the island to deal with solid waste. McCulloch-Gary says they're an essential service and should receive priority loading on both the Cortes and Quadra Island ferries, adding that there are serious consequences if those trucks are delayed at ferry terminals and don't make it to or off Cortes Island in a timely manner.

The centre handles anything deemed recyclable by provincially mandated Recycle BC. It also serves as a transfer station for all solid waste, as there is no landfill on the island. Bins for the transfer need to be transported and removed by trucks.

The facility is open Thursdays through Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. A free store, where the public can drop off reusable items and shop for them at no charge, also operates on the property.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Fresh on the heels of being chosen as BC’s Indigenous Operator or Experience for 2023, the Klahoose Wilderness Resort has been picked as one of the wolrd’s best new hotels.

Every year, AFAR publishes a list of the top 15 new hotels in the world. The editors and contributors research hundreds of properties around the globe for months before making a decision. They personally stay at each hotel as part of the vetting process. There are two Canadian hotels in the list for 2023, and one of them is the Klahoose Wilderness Resort.

“To be recognized as one of the 15 hotels worldwide for new product is certainly a big deal to us, and even more so with the fact that we really only had one year of full operation. Employees this past year did an amazing job and we're blessed to have some pretty incredible surroundings at the resort, but this really was recognition that puts us square on the map,” said Jason Johnson, Genearl Manager of QXMC, the Klahoose First Nation’s Economic Development Corporation.

The Muir Hotel, in the centre of downtown Halifax’s waterfront district, is AFAR’s other Canadian pick.

“I think Canadian product is certainly getting put on that map as well,” added Johnson.

According to the description on AFAR: “One luxury of this wilderness retreat owned by the Klahoose First Nation is its location. Accessed via a 60-minute seaplane ride from Vancouver or 45-minute boat transfer from Lund, B.C., the resort is surrounded by more than 2,500 acres of Klahoose territory that the community has protected for centuries. Here, glacial waterfalls plummet down snowcapped mountains and evergreens border the Homfray Channel. The four lodge rooms and three cedar cabins all face the sea, where guests might glimpse humpbacks blowing at sunrise. Activities include Indigenous-led grizzly bear tours, wood-carving lessons from Klahoose interpreter Klemkwateki Randy Louie, and—perhaps the most meaningful experience—a participatory smudging and brushing ceremony around a fire.”

This is not the only award the resort has received recently.

At their annual conference in Prince George last month, the BC Hotel Association (BCHA) and the Tourism Industry Association of BC (TIABC) chose the Klahoose Wilderness Resort as this year’s ‘Indigenous Operator or Experience.’

The other finalists were Nemiah Valley Lodge, in the Chilcotin, and Homalco Wildlife and Cultural Tours, in Campbell River.

On the BC Tourism and Hospitality website it states, “This award recognizes Indigenous tourism businesses that demonstrate authenticity, cultivate a greater understanding of Indigenous culture, history and traditions, and contribute to the resilience of the local Indigenous community.”

Johnson explained, “We received that at the conference. I was taking aback and certainly didn't have anything prepared. To be recognized in that way after just the one year of full operations … amazing.”

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Suzanne Fletcher has lived on Cortes eight years, coming to the island initially to take up a management position at Hollyhock. She has since served on the Co-op Board, “done a lot of gardening,” and most recently spent a summer as operations manager for Klahoose Wilderness Resort before accepting the Project Manager position for Rainbow Ridge, with the Cortes Housing Society.

On April 8th, I interviewed Suzanne at her home on Siskin Lane; she told me a little bit about the very successful inaugural season at the Wilderness Resort, and also provided an update on progress at Rainbow Ridge.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Wind speeds of up to 35 kph were recorded on Quadra Island on Easter Sunday. For passengers crossing on the 11:50 AM from Cortes Island, this meant more than a two and a half hour delay at the Quathiaski Cove Terminal before they could cross over to Campbell River.

Why were the two new hybrid-eferries kept in port while the Tachek continued to sail between Cortes and Quadra Islands?

A ferry worker explained it in terms of different wind conditions.

The winds died down prior to 3 PM, at which point the ferries resumed sailings. There was quite a back-log by then, but the delayed Cortes Island vehicles were on the 3:30 PM sailing.

A week prior to this: another ferry employee told Cortes Currents the big difference he noticed, since the two hybrid ferries went into service, is they do not leave cars behind at the terminal anymore.

This is a welcome change for Cortes passengers who are used to a one ferry wait before reaching Campbell River and, should we need to wait, the time between sailings has been reduced to half an hour.

Of course this is still Spring. It will be interesting to see what kind of difference the two new hybrids will make during the tourist season.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - On March 27 Cortes Currents published some concerns that Cortes Island shellfish growers have about liveaboard and recereational boat owners coming too close to their operations. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) did not have adequate time to respond, which it eventually did by email on April 6, 2023.

Cortes Currents was hoping to secure an interview and sent DFO a list of topics to be covered. The most important was ‘the problems of liveaboards and recreational boaters coming too close to shellfish growing sites.’

According to Erik Lyon, of Rising Tide Shellfish, “The problem is too many people  in too close a proximity to shellfish farms. You can’t have any shellfish destined for human consumption in  water where there’s any kind of a man-made dock, boat liveaboard or float house within 125 meters.”

“People come in the summer, they’re cruising and they anchor in the harbour.  Maybe they are a new liveaboard. They don’t know the place and)  they’ll anchor right up close to someone’s beach lease because  they’re trying to get into shallow water. They don’t even know about that 125 meters setback, and that’s not their fault that they don’t know.” 

Phil Allen, President of Bee Islets Growers Corporation in Gorge Harbour, confirmed, “You cannot sell any shellfish from that lease while the boat is there.”

So what do you do?  

Allen said, “You just have to harass them. That’s the only option you’ve got. Say, ‘Look, I can’t operate while you are here. Could you please move?’”

Lyon explained, “We don’t have any safeguards to protect us from something as simple as a bunch of people living on their boats too close to our farm because there isn’t any government or regulatory body that has the teeth to enforce, remove, or in any way influence the conduct of the people who choose to live on a boat.”

“It’s highly risky for us because Environment Canada is taking note of  vessels that are in close proximity to the leases. They are GPSing  people’s position (where their boat is), and keeping track of that. If there’s a cumulative risk perceived by them, they will close areas as a precautionary thing – which is what they did in the west end of the Gorge.”  

Another Cortes grower, Kristen Schofield-Sweet, stated, “It wasn’t that the water testing was coming back negative. it’s that DFO decided there was simply too much traffic, too many boats. So they closed that area, but there was no evidence that the water itself was fouled.” 

Lyon added, “They said, ‘this is too much of a risk, we can’t control for this.” 

Those quotes were taken from the March 26 article, and Cortes Currents sent DFO a link.

DFO’s response does not contain a single reference to ‘boats,’ ‘liveaboards,’ or their proximity to active shellfish growing sites.

Greg Osoba/CKTZ News -Though it's early spring, seniors on Quadra Island are being urged to act now to prepare their homes for possible forest fires in BC.

Mike Gladish, coordinator of the local Seniors Emergency Preparedness Program, says that once the weather warms up the risk of forest fires increases.

He advises seniors and the general population to adopt measures recommended in the FireSmart BC Homeowners Guide. These include clearing roofs and gutters of forest debris, sweeping decks and removing nearby trees that pose a fire risk.

Gladish says seniors can register with the Quadra Seniors Emergency Preparedness Program and receive help for contacting and hiring volunteers and contractors who are able to assist with fire mitigation measures. He adds that some financial help is also available courtesy of a $25,000 fund created by the United Way.

Greg Osoba/ CKTZ News - The Cortes Island Food Bank has seen a doubling in the number of regular clients since last year, according to food bank treasurer Filipe Figueira. He says the total now stands at about 20 individuals, compared with seven to 10 last year.

He says that spring is often the toughest time of year for people experiencing food insecurity. Many jobs on Cortes Island are seasonal, and food bank president Samantha Statton says people run short of resources by this time of year while they await spring and summer employment. She adds that it's especially tough as the cost of living keeps rising.

This Friday, April 7, the food bank will have a table set up at the weekly market, located at Mansons Community Hall, from 12-3 p.m. They will be offering quantities of free sprouted potatoes for planting. Figueira says recipients are welcome to donate a bag of potatoes back to the food bank, once they're harvested, if people have more than they can use.

The Cortes Island food bank can be reached via cortesfoodbank.ca or by emailing [email protected]. Figueira says both food and financial donations are welcome. Statton adds that food donations can't include home canning, or any opened or damaged packaging. The food bank also supplies food for pets.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Lives changed because of the Dillon Creek Wetland Restoration. Project manager Miranda Cross said, “ This project really initiated a whole new life path where I am now working as a wetland restoration professional.” Monitoring Technician Autumn Barret Morgan studied sounscapes before she came to Cortes Island, but it was at Dillon Creek that she “started really diving into the soundscape” - which she has carried on with the Western Screech Owl Monitoring Project. Beatrix Baxter has been making films for about 15 years, but she was feeling burned out by the time she moved to Cortes Island. The documentary film ’Replenish: Bringing Back the Dillon Creek Wetland,’ is both a chronicle of the project and part of a personal transformation.

“I'm pretty choosy about the projects I take on these days. I just really want to choose projects that are going to be quite meaningful to me and to the world,” she explained.

CC: So what made you choose this film? What’s important about it? I understand there is a connection to the algae blooms in Hague and Gunflint Lakes not too long ago.

BB: “I had made a film with Friends of Cortes Island a few years ago. it was just a short film about the eutrophication that people have been monitoring. The first bloom was noticed in 2014. We made a film, I think it was in 2017, to try to raise some awareness about this happening. So I'd done this project with FOCI.”

“Then when Miranda wanted to make a film to tell the story of the two year rebuilding of the wetland, she reached out to ask if I would put in a proposal. The project really interested me too, so I did.”

“It was really great to work with Miranda for the last two years. From the beginning she was supportive and kind of hands off. She let me do what I thought was best, which means I get to be really creative and intuitive. I really was drawn to the project because getting to follow a story for two years is pretty special. It meant that I had a lot of time in between shoots to see how things would unfold and make adjustments along the way, it also meant things weren't rushed or on the kind of typical timeframe that you often will find in film industry.”

“Another thing that attracted me to the project was Miranda's passion and through her learning about how important wetlands are in the world and how a project like this is rare. She speaks about this a lot. In the province and in the world, we've lost 80 to 90% of wetlands.”

“So having one get rebuilt, it's feels like a drop in the bucket, but the community came together and made it happen. We could do it again in another location. Another community can watch this film and be inspired to do something similar. I could just really see even at the beginning of the project, the kind of impact that this kind of film could have.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - There was a celebration at Linnaea Farm on Friday, March 31. While they will continue to monitor the site until at least 2026, Cortes Island’s first wetland restoration project is largely finished. The surrounding community was invited to tour the project, enjoy a potluck supper and watch Beatrix Baxter’s documentary film ‘Replenish: Bringing Back the Dillon Creek Wetland.’

“We're just at the end of a three year grant. The Environment and Climate Change Canada 'Eco Action Community Funding Program' ends today. We have a little bit of funding for this next year of monitoring and maintenance and we'll be pursuing additional funding for future years of monitoring and maintenance,” explained Project Manager Miranda Cross.

“This project was initiated in response to the algal blooms that were witnessed, starting in 2014, in Hague and Gunflint Lakes. At the time, the Friends of Cortes Island Society (FOCI) and a group of concerned citizens got together and initiated a lake monitoring program, with support of the Ministry of Environment and the BC Lake Stewardship. They collected monthly data over a number of years and are still collecting data.”

“When that data was analyzed by Limnologist, Dr. Maggie Squires, in about 2018, her analysis revealed that it is likely phosphorous loading that's creating the algal bloom in the lakes, and that our best strategy for mitigating nutrient inputs would be to restore wetlands on land adjacent to the lakes.”

“At that time, FOCI approached Linnaea Farm, the biggest farm in the watershed. Because of their dedication to ecological stewardship, organic land care, organic farming, education and environmental stewardship, it was a really great fit and a really great partnership.”

“Friends of Cortes Island got in touch with BC Wildlife Federation, who put us in touch with Tom Biebighauser, a wetland restoration specialist from Kentucky who does a lot of work here in the province. We were able to bring him to Cortes to look at the potential for wetland restoration at Linnaea and also at another farm on Gunflint Lake.”

“Once we had the design report from Tom, we went ahead and pursued funding and eventually were successful in pursuing funding through the Eco-Action Community Funding Program.”

“Then we needed matching funds. At that point we approached the community. We approached local individuals for support in terms of cash donations, and we also got in touch and made connections with so many of the local organizations who've been part of the project in terms of partnerships and educational programs or volunteer events. Through cash and in-kind donations, we're able to raise the matching funds to go ahead with the project.”

Prior to being drained to make way for pasture, wetlands had filtered out the flow of nutrients into Gunflint Lake. Restoring the Dillon Creek wetlands was a three year project. Heavy machinery was brought in to rip apart the pasture, an inlet from the creek was dug out and native plants were reintroduced,

MC: “The primary objective of the project was to be mitigating nutrient inputs, and then the co-benefit objectives were for wildlife habitat.”